Method of coloring stone



Dec. 1,1936. Q CLEVELAND v2,052,865

METHOD OF COLORING STONE Filed Feb. 12, 1934 INVENTOR. JYEI'eweZTWQIQ 7 g?! ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,062,865 mnrnon or COLORING s'rorm Clarence E. cleve snd, Salina, time. I Application February 12, 1934 Serial No. 710,853 3 Claims. 01. 41-39) This inventionrelates to the method of ornamenting stone, and particularly to the method of embedding coloring matter into the surface of -the stone by blasting to produce a' colored de- 5 sign, and is a continuation in part of my U. S.

Patent No. 2,016,593, issued October 8, 1935.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of a method of forcing powdered, inorganic pigments into the surface por- 10 tion of stone to produce a colored design.

Another object of this invention is-the .method of producing a design on the surface of a stone which has been previously finished, which consists in first sand blasting the surface of the.

5 stone to open the pores therein and then forcing an inorganic coloring matter into the sand blasted portion to produce a colored design.

A further object of the invention is the method 25 surface of the stone and then covering said design with a coat of transparent water-proofing material.

Another object of the present invention is the production of a. design on a stone by first coating said surface with a masking material, or

dope, removing a portion of said masking material to expose a portion of the stone surface in the shape of the design required, then cutti g the design into said surface by means of a sand 35 blast, forcing a powdered, inorganic pigment into said sand blasted surface, and then removing the remaining dope from the surface of the stone.

. It is also contemplated that after one coat of pigment has been applied that certain portions of the design may be covered with the masking material and then another pigment applied to obtain any color effect desired; furthermore,. that when the coloring pigments have 45 been applied and the masking material is still in position on the remaining face of the stone, the water-proof coating may. be applied to the design so that when the dope is removed only that portion of the stone surface which comprises 50 the design will be covered with the water-proofing material.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear during the course of the specification, wherein reference is bad to the accompa y drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a stone, having a design formed thereon in accordance with this invention, and,

-Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the stone taken on line IIII of Figure 1. 5

'Like reference characters designate similar parts throughout the several views and the numeral l0 indicates a stone having a finished face l2 which has been produced by one of the'various methods and may be termed by the trade as axed, sanded, steeled, hand polished, etc. When a stone is thus finished the pores become closed so that it is impossible to force any material amount of foreign matter such as pigments into the finished surfacef 'Most of the commercial stones used by monument makers are provided with finished surfaces for the reception of inscriptions, designs, etc. On this finished surface I2 is engraved or formed by any suitable method,

a design or inscription l4 which may either be incised or in relief.

In .this process the design-receiving surface to be blasted is protected by a blanket of a specialcomposition called dope or masking material. This blanket of masking material is cut away to form, in effect, a stencil of the design, inscription orvornament to be carved. The design is then carved or etched into the exposed stone surface by means of a controlled'sand blast, to the desired depth. This sand blasting produces a clean cut intaglio, with a, surface texture well suited to receive the coloring matter a or pigment into the surface portion thereof. This etching might be so carried on, by leaving the masking material on the design and removing it i from the "adjacent portion of the stone, as to produce the design in relief; however, when-this method is used and it is desired to color the design, it is necessary to slightly etch the finished surface of the-design so as to produce a surface 40 hundred pounds should be used,.a nd that this pressure should be varied to meet therequirements of the diflferent textured stones. The

coloring matter used in this method is an inorganic plgment which has been educed to a powdered form, and which includes pigments of the different primary colors and their combinations. These pigments are forced into the surface of the stone \by means of an air blast and in the'absence of any abrasive materials.

After one color pigment has been forced into said stone surface, other colors may also be forced therein in such a manner as to blend and fuse so as to make different shades of colors and produce properly colored portraits, landscapes, or any other colored work of art by imbedding the coloring matter in the surface portion of the stone.

When different portions of the design require a definite color such as the red blossom IS in the drawing. it is necessary to mask the other portion of the design so that the red pigment may be blown into the surface in such a manner as to make a clear cut outline of the blossom with the adjacent surface. This coloring might also be obtained by properly constructed and controlled air jets used in applying the pigments. Likewise the green leaves [6 would be masked by some suitable material and so on through-out the entire coloring process. When the blending of the colors is desired the operator simply applies the pigments in the proper manner over the design to obtain the desired results, without the use of Y masks.

After the design coloring has been completed and all its surface is free from masks, etc., a coating of transparent protective material [8 is appliedto the design. This protective coating is primarily a water-proofing that will not oxidize, check or crack, but forms a transparent coating over the surface of the design that is impervious to acid, oil and dust. The colors of the design are thereby kept clean and brilliant and free from deterioratiomby the elements.

As clearly shown in the drawing, the design may be etched in a panel which serves as a background for the design. and which may be colored so as to more artistically set off the design. This is produced by the workman controlling the sand blast to cut away the stone to the proper depth and by the removing of the masking material at the proper times during the operation.

When the masking material is removed after the completion of the design the finished portion of the stone that has not been sand blasted has not been changed, while the design is completely covered with the protective coat which adheres tightly thereto so as to prevent the moisture, etc. entering at its juncture with the finished stone surface.

- After the design has been colored and covered with the transparent, protective coating and before the masking material has been removed from the adjacent surface, it is desired to apply coloring matter by blasting to said coating. correspending with the coloring matter therebeneath,

and then covering the coloring matter last applied with a transparent protective coat. The coloring matter must be applied, to the transparent protective coating before this coating has had time to dry and while it is in a plastic state.

This process may be re ated any desired number While reference is had only to the coloring of stone, it is very evident that this method is applicable to other materials which are sufficiently porous when properly sand blasted to receive the powdered pigments.

In carrying out this method-of coloring stone, many combinations of the different steps of masking, sand blasting, pigment blasting and protective coating might be used without departing from the spirit of this invention. It is therefore desired that I be limited only by the scope of the appended claims..

What I claim is;

1. The method of coloring stone having a finished design-receiving surface consisting in covering said surface with masking material, removing a portion of said masking material to expose a portion of said surface to produce the reqnired design, etching the design in said surface by means of a sand blast, air blasting inorganic coloring matter into said etched design, then applying a transparent water-proofing to said design and removing all the remaining masking material fromsaid surface.

2. The method of producing colored designs in the surface portion of a finished stone, said method consisting in forming a coating of masking material over. the design-receiving surface of the stone; removing a portion of said masking material to expose the stone surface in the desired design; then blasting said design-receiving surface to cut away the finished surface of the stone forming said design; blasting an inorganic coloring matter into said design cut surface; covering said design with a plastic water-proofing material; forcing a coloring pigment into said waterproofing material while it is yet plastic, then covering said design with another coating of transparent water-proofing material.

3. The method of producing colored designs in the surface portion of a solid body, consisting in separately blasting different colored pigments into said body to cause a blending and fusing of said pigments, then covering said colored design with a coating of transparent water-proofing material.

CLARENCE E. CLEVELANQ; 

